Manganiello Punches NCAA Ticket with 14:46 Mile at Last Chance Meet

FLORIDA LAST-CHANCE MEET

The Florida Gators filled a few more spots on their NCAA roster this weekend during the final day of competition at the Florida Last Chance Meet in their home pool.

The meet was one of 6 last chance meets going on throughout the country this weekend, with 3 more to come for the men in early March. Swimmers can swim an event in prelims and finals of a last chance meet, along with in one time trial. See all of the last chance meets here.

  • Florida’s Blake Manganiello secured his invite to the NCAA championships, dropping over 10 seconds from his season best time in the mile on day 3 of the Florida Last Chance Meet. Manganiello clocked in at 14:46.33, which is within 2 seconds of the NCAA ‘A’ cut. With that, he moved up from 27th in the nation to 9th in the mation with just Pac-12s and ACCs yet to swim.
  • Teammate Ross Palazzo should be on the right side of the bubble in the 200 breast. In Sunday finals, he swam a 1:54.24. That cleared last year’s invited time by a full second and now ranks him 18th in the nation.
  • Florida’s Bayley Main turned in a season best time of 1:42.37 in the 200 back. That’s just a few tenths shy of what it took to qualify last year. He’s currently ranked 29th, though, with Pac-12s and ACCs still to come this week.
  • On the women’s side, Florida’s Sydney Sell lowered her season best in the 200 back by a second to earn herself a place at NCAAs. Sell clocked a 1:53.57, which is well under the 1:54.47 it took to qualify last year. With all major conferences now finished, she’s pretty much a lock for the meet as she’s ranked 31st.
  • Texas A&M’s Karling Hemstreet threw down a 1:45.22 in a 200 free time trial. That time bumped her up to 39th in the nation, and puts her right on the bubble for NCAAs. Hemstreet should be safe for an invite regardless, as her 500 free time earlier in the meet ranks her 32nd in the nation. Florida’s Amelia Maughan was a few tenths back, moving up the 52nd nationally with her 1:45.55.
  • The Gators’ Georgia Darwent was narrowly off what it took to qualify in the 1650 free last year, swimming a season best 16:17.72. That time moved her up to 45th in the nation.

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Nuge
7 years ago

Awesome swim Blake! We are very happy but unbelievably proud of you, DUDE!
Way to go!!! UT & AC

MrBriefStroke
7 years ago

Hey Lauren great job covering the meets this weekend. Something most people probably missed tonight was that Bobby Finke went 14:37 in the 1650 at the FL-LSC Senior Champs meet in Orlando. He is amazing, only a junior. Figured I’d give a heads up!

bobo gigi
Reply to  MrBriefStroke
7 years ago

Mrbriefstroke, thanks for the news.
I follow Robert Finke since last junior pan pacs where he was very impressive by winning the 800 free and the 1500 free in 7.55 and 15.05 at only 16. I liked his technique.
The next US distance star on the men’s side.

MrBriefStroke
Reply to  bobo gigi
7 years ago

Bobo his technique is incredible he catches water so quickly and doesn’t stop that tempo ever. I was there watching his swim last night and he was just crushing every turn and had a six beat kick going the entire way. I’ve never seen anyone kick that hard for that long of a swim.The word is he trains very hard and that he’ll be the next great US male distance star. I predict he will eventually go 14:14 in the 1650, and will get the US Open record in the next two years.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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